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Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake

Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake
Everyday foods PBS

I used frozen blueberries, thawed them and rinsed them before I used them. This does not need a glaze it is DELICIOUS without but you could add one if you like.

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 teaspoon for blueberries and zest
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• Nonstick cooking spray, for pan
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

For best results, coat the inside of the Bundt pan with cooking spray just before filling it with the batter to prevent it from pooling in the bottom.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk 2 1/2 cups flour with baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of sour cream.
3. In a bowl, toss blueberries and zest with remaining teaspoon flour; gently fold into batter. Coat a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray. Spread batter in prepared pan.
4. Bake cake on bottom rack of oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Invert onto a rack; cool completely, top side up. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving, if desired.

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Five Cool Snack Ideas for Kids

Got kids? Got kids that get bored, hungry and hot in the summertime? If you do have kids you know all of those things go together whether we want them to or not, right? Do you get tired of hearing, “but I don’t like THAT mom” or other complaints when you offer them a quick snack? Are you looking for some healthy, delicious, “cool” (as in refreshing AND neat) treats to satisfy kids of all ages? Then look no further! Here are five treats your kids will love and ask for over and over. Not only will your kids love them but so will you because they are easy to make, delicious and healthy. Who could ask for anything more?

Fruit Pizza:

Delicious and oh so easy to make; fruit pizza will please every person in your household and it will help get your kids (and hubby) to eat more fruit.

The ingredients:

· 1 pkg. refrigerated sugar cookie dough mix

· 1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

· 1/3 cup granulated sugar

· 4 cups assorted fruits, sliced (strawberries, bananas, oranges, blueberries, etc.), you can throw these together in a bowl if you wish.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees Celsius). Roll cookie dough into a ball and place in the center of a pizza pan and spread evenly over pizza pan, into a 12 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Mix the sugar and cream cheese together and spread over the cookie crust. Top with the fruit and then sprinkle the lemon juice over the fruit (this helps to keep it from turning brown). Refrigerate. Slice into 12 pizza wedges and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers. This is also a great treat to serve at a birthday party. Kids and adults love it!

Fruit Juice Spritzer

Do your kids like soda, but you hate for them to have it all the time? One of my favorite beverages any time of the year is a fruit juice spritzer. It’s refreshing, cool and tasty. Plus it has the added benefit of fruit juice so you can count is as a fruit serving for the day! I prefer using 100% Juicy Juice, being that it’s, well, 100% all natural juice. But you can use any juice you prefer. You’re kids will love it and it’s a cool, easy to serve beverage made of ingredients you probably already have. It’s also healthier than letting them have a full glass of soda.

It’s so easy. All you do is pour about 1/2 a glass of juice in a cup over ice and fill the rest of the glass with 7UP or Sprite. Voila! You have a Fruit Juice Spritzer. It’s better than a full glass of soda and your kids get the fruit serving they need. You can vary the amounts of course; a little more juice or a little less, depending on your taste, but don’t defeat the purpose of cutting down on the soda.

For an added treat you could blend the juice with some ice in the blender and make “slushies.” Just fill the glass with the slushie mix and pour the soda over the icy juice.

Homemade Juice or Kool-Aid popsicles

One of my kid’s favorite treats growing up was homemade popsicles. They loved helping make them and of course eating them. Plus they are super easy to make and oh so handy when your kids need a quick snack to tide them over until dinner.

Ingredients:

· Pitcher of Kool-Aid or other drink mix, prepared. You can also make juicy pops using your favorite fruit juice, but mix with water first, 5 parts water to 1 part juice.

· Freezer pop molds. If you don’t have them, just use ice cube trays.

Pour the prepared drink mix or Kool-Aid into freezer molds or ice cube trays and freeze. If you want to put a popsicle stick into the ice cubed pops, freeze slightly first, and then insert in the middle of the ice cube pop so it will stand up.

Voila! Easy, handy, yummy and cool! You’re kids will think you’re the best mom ever.

Ice Cream Float

Who doesn’t love ice cream? What better summertime treats than a delicious ice cream float? It’s so quick, easy and refreshing. Here’s a neat twist on the traditional float:

Using your choice of ice cream put two scoops in a dessert or tall glass. Break up your favorite candy bar into pieces and place in glass. Fill with your favorite soda, like root beer or cola.

Yogurt and Fruit Lollies

When I was a kid I loved having something I could grab and go outside with my friends. (Where have those days gone?) Better yet, I loved having a treat I could share with my friends. These yummy yogurt and fruit lollies are the perfect summertime treat. They are cool, refreshing, healthy and easy to take on the go.

What you need:

· Popsicle molds with sticks, preferably the flat molds

· A container of flavored yogurt, preferably a fruit flavor

· Sliced fruit

How you make it:

Fill the molds with the yogurt, insert stick and place fruit on the top. Freeze. Place mold in warm water to remove the lolly when ready to eat.

Healthy, delicious, and handy all wrapped up into one! Every mother’s dream and every kid’s treat. Making kids happy and keeping them healthy doesn’t have to be a huge chore, nor does it have to taste bad. Using these simple ideas will serve both purposes, quick, easily and efficiently. Your kids will thank you for it.

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Double Chocolate Toffee Ice Cream

What You Need:

1 C of sugar

1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder

2 C whipping cream

1 C of milk

1 t vanilla

1/8 t salt

3/4 C chocolate covered toffee candy, chopped

How to Make It:

Place the sugar and cocoa powder in a large mix bowl and toss to combine.

Pour the whipping cream and milk into the bowl.

Add the vanilla and salt and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Pour the mixture into the freezer canister.

Freeze according the manufacturer’s directions.

Stir in the toffee pieces and allow the ice cream to ripen 4 hours.

Makes 8 servings

A great way to serve this ice cream is in a chocolate dipped cone. Place a 1/2 C of semisweet chocolate pieces in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the chocolate at 70 percent power or medium high heat for 1 minute. Stir and continue microwaving for 1 to 3 minutes or until the chocolate is smooth. Dip the cones into the melted chocolate about 1/3 of the way up the cone. If the chocolate is too thick, stir in 1 t of melted shortening. Place the cones top side down on wax paper until the chocolate is set.

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Fresh Strawberry Pie

Fresh Strawberry Pie

from a Southern Plate

Fresh Strawberry Pie

* 1 C sugar
* 1 C Water
* 3 T strawberry gelatin mix
* 1 Pint Fresh Strawberries
* 3 Heaping Tablespoons Cornstarch
* 1 pie crust, cooked and cooled (The recipe for my crust may be found here I made a recipe and a half for a bit thicker crust)

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and dry gelatin mix by stirring well. Add water and cook until thick and clear over medium high heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Set aside and let cool. Wash and hull strawberries, cut in half and arrange over pie crust. When filling is cool, pour over strawberries and chill pie until ready to serve. Serve with whipped cream.

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Product Review- Blue Diamond Whole Natural Almonds

A lot of times when people come to visit, they are disappointed when they want to share my almonds with me and discover that they are not roasted and they also don’t have anything at all on them, like salt. They are completely natural and I love them that way. And I think they are healthiest that way, as well.

Almonds are a great treat if you are on a diet, too. They easily make up a big part of your daily protein intake. They’re also very high in Vitamin E, and of course they’re low in sugar. They are also a surprisingly good source of calcium.

Twenty-eight almonds is equal to 160 calories, which makes the perfect snack or protein addition to just about any meal. You can have a few on their own, you can sprinkle slivers on your salad for an extra crunch, and they go great with fruit and yogurt. You have to be careful though, you don’t want to go overboard eating them, because they are very high in fat.

Usually the almonds are pretty fresh and yummy, but every now and then I’ll get a pack that just isn’t quite as fresh. When that happens the almonds are kind of more flat and they don’t split in half or slice up quite as easily. However, this happens infrequently enough that I still really love this brand. I think that has more to do with nature itself – or maybe how long the can actually sat on the shelf at the store.

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Kick Butt Gorilla Bread

Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
2 – 12-ounce cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.

* I drizzled a powdered sugar glaze over the gorilla bread before serving to make it that much better Ü (powdered sugar, vanilla extract, butter and milk) mix together until it’s the consistency you want, drizzle over warm bread and serve.

* If you don’t know what Gorilla Bread is, it’s really just a mega version of Monkey Bread. If you have never made it then you don’t know what you are missing. Monkey Bread is a sticky, gooey pastry served as a breakfast treat. Gorilla Bread has a ooey gooey cream cheese center sure to please.

Recipe Submitted by Tina Butler
Email: tinabutler@sbcglobal.net
Website: http://tinamommyx3.blogspot.com/

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Sweet Cherry Pineapple Salad

What You Need:

1 pineapple, peeled and cut into chunks

1/3 C sugar

1/2 lb. dark sweet cherries, pitted

1 (5 oz.) pkg. mixed salad greens

! C French dressing

1 C blue cheese, crumbled

How to Make It:

Place the pineapple chunks in the bottom of shallow baking dish.

Sprinkle the pineapple with the sugar.

Cover the dish and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour to chill.

Place the cherries into the pan with the pineapple and stir to combine.

Place the salad greens into a salad bowl.

Place the cherry and pineapple mixture over the greens.

Pour the French dressing over the entire salad.

Top with the crumbled blue cheese just before serving.

Serves: 6

This sweet festive salad goes well with pork or chicken. Placing the pineapple in the refrigerator to chill gives the sugar time to soak into the pineapple giving it a sweet taste. Be sure to mix the pineapple and cherries together in the shallow pan so that both types of fruit are covered with little of the sweet juice.

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Creamed Grapes with Sweet Pecans

What You Need:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature

1 C sour cream

1/3 C sugar

2 t vanilla extract

2 lbs. seedless green grapes

2 lbs. seedless red grapes

3 T brown sugar

3 T pecans, chopped

How to Make It:

Place the cream cheese into a large mixing bowl.

Add the sour cream to the bowl.

Sprinkle the sugar into the mixture.

Pour in the vanilla extract.

Use an electric mixer on medium speed and beat the ingredients until smooth and well blended.

Fold the grapes into the cream mixture being sure they are covered well.

Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate 1 hour or until chilled through.

Place the brown sugar in a mixing bowl.

Add the pecans and coat them with the brown sugar.

Sprinkle the mixture over the salad just before serving.

Serves: 16

The brown sugar and pecans set this salad. Use any type of grape you like as long as they are seedless. This makes a great salad for potluck dinners or family get together.

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Frozen Banana Berry Salad

What You Need:

1 (20 oz.) can pineapple tidbits with juice

5 bananas, sliced

1/2 C sugar

1 (16 oz.) can whole cranberry sauce

1/3 C pecans, chopped

1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping, thawed

How to Make It:

Drain the juice from the pineapple into a mixing bowl.

Add the sliced bananas to the juice and let stand 5 minutes.

Place the sugar into a separate mixing bowl.

Add the cranberry sauce to the sugar and blend together well.

Use a slotted spoon and remove the bananas from the juice and discard the juice.

Fold the pineapple into the mixture.

Add the pecans and stir to combine.

Fold the whipped topping in until all the ingredients are combined well.

Spread into a very lightly greased 9X13 glass pan.

Cover and place in the freezer at least 4 hours or until frozen through.

Allow the salad to stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

Serves: 8

The cranberry sauce and pecans are optional in this recipe. Add a can of cherry or blueberry pie filling instead.

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Arctic Pickles

What You Need:

 

6 cucumbers, sliced thin

1 lg red onion, sliced thin

2 T salt

1 C white vinegar

3/4 C sugar

Freezer containers

 

How to Make It:

 

Place the cucumbers and
onions together in a large mixing bowl,

Add the salt.

Fold all together.

Let stand 2 hours at room
temperature.

After the 2 hours, rinse the
cucumbers and onion in cool water.

Drain them well.

Place them in the freezer
containers.

Mix the vinegar and sugar
together until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Pour the mixture over the
cucumbers and onions.

Freeze for at least 3 weeks
before eating. 

When ready to eat thaw in
the refrigerator overnight or run under cold water if you want to thaw faster.

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